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Vehicle sensing method for detecting a pedestrian impact

a technology of pedestrian impact and vehicle sensing, which is applied in the direction of pedestrian/occupant safety arrangement, instruments, tractors, etc., can solve the problems of difficult to deploy safety devices in time, high cost, and difficulty in equipping production vehicles with the required sensors,

Active Publication Date: 2008-06-03
CARRUM TECH LLC
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  • Summary
  • Abstract
  • Description
  • Claims
  • Application Information

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

"The present invention is a method for detecting when a person is hit by a car. It uses sensors placed on the hood of the car to detect the initial impact and then look for any foreign objects that may be present in a specific area above the hood. This helps to determine if the person was hit by the car or if there was a separate impact. The method also takes into account the speed of the car and the distance of the person from the car to make this determination."

Problems solved by technology

However, equipping a production vehicle with the required sensors can be both costly and difficult.
Moreover, it can be difficult to deploy the safety devices in time to effectively reduce pedestrian injury since the collision is only detected after the pedestrian strikes the hood.

Method used

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  • Vehicle sensing method for detecting a pedestrian impact
  • Vehicle sensing method for detecting a pedestrian impact
  • Vehicle sensing method for detecting a pedestrian impact

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Embodiment Construction

[0008]Referring to FIG. 1A, the reference numeral 10 designates a vehicle that is equipped with one or more pedestrian safety devices and a sensing system for deploying the safety devices when a pedestrian impact is detected. The pedestrian safety devices (PSDs) are designated by a single block 12, and may include one or more pedestrian air bags and a mechanism for changing the inclination angle of the vehicle hood 14. The PSDs are selectively activated by a microprocessor-based electronic control unit (ECU) 16, which issues a deployment command on line 18 when a pedestrian impact is detected. The ECU 16 detects pedestrian impacts based on inputs from a number of sensors, including an accelerometer 20 and a set of object detection sensors 22. Additionally, the ECU 16 is responsive to the vehicle speed VS, which may be determined from one or more wheel speed sensors 23.

[0009]The acceleration sensor 20 is mounted in the front of the vehicle 10, preferably on a rear surface of the fron...

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Abstract

The collision of a vehicle with a pedestrian is detected by the presence of a foreign object in a sensing zone above the hood of the vehicle within a prescribed time of an initial impact with the bumper of the vehicle. The initial impact is detected with an acceleration sensor disposed in or near the front bumper and the sensing zone is defined by object detection sensors disposed on the hood or behind the windshield of the vehicle. Vehicle speed is used to discriminate against events that occur while the vehicle is stationary or moving very slowly.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD[0001]The present invention relates to pedestrian impact detection for a vehicle, and more particularly to a sensing method that provides timely and reliable detection of pedestrian impacts for which pedestrian safety devices should be deployed.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0002]A vehicle can be equipped with deployable safety devices designed to reduce injury to a pedestrian struck by the vehicle. For example, the vehicle may be equipped with one or more pedestrian air bags and / or a device for changing the inclination angle of the hood. Since these devices are only to be deployed in the event of a pedestrian impact, the deployment system must be capable of reliably distinguishing pedestrian impacts from abuse events (such as hammer blows to the front bumper) and impacts with other objects. In this regard, it has been recognized that pedestrian impacts are nearly always characterized by two impacts: a first impact with the vehicle bumper followed by a second impact with...

Claims

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Application Information

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Patent Type & Authority Patents(United States)
IPC IPC(8): B60K28/10
CPCB60R21/0134B60R21/0132B60R21/34B60R21/0136
Inventor SHEN, JUNQIANGHAU, LAWRENCE C
Owner CARRUM TECH LLC
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